Description: The photographs were collected by the "Extraordinary State Commission for Determination and Investigation of Nazi and Their Collaborators' Atrocities in the USSR". This organization was established in Moscow in November 1942 to investigate German crimes in the USSR. In actuality, it was run by the NKVD. After the committee was disbanded, the files and photographs were moved to the Soviet State Archive.
This collection of photographs was first discovered in the early 1990's by German researchers who were collecting material for a large exhibition on the topic of war crimes committed by the Wehrmacht, and many of the photographs were indeed presented in the exhibition. It later emerged that some of the descriptions attached to the photos were erroneous or incomplete, and there were even some photographs supposedly showing German atrocities, that in fact documented Soviet war crimes. In many cases, details about the photos are missing, apart from the way in which they were found. The collection also includes some letters sent with the photos, describing the circumstances under which they were found.

Credit: Public Domain

Collection: Yad Vashem Photo Archive, Yad Vashem Photo Archive

Archival signature: 7904/95
, 7904/0

Album item no: 5083815

Album Title: 451 photographs on CD. The photographs, mainly from German sources, were collected during the war by "The Extraordinary State Commission for Determination and Investigation of Nazi and Their Collaborators' Atrocities in the USSR"